EMPLOYMENT - The Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) has an opening for a Water Quality Specialist who is a self-starter and will assist with the coordination of the Water Quality Plan for the Grand River watershed. For further details see the Job Posting on the Employment Opportunities page.

AFS 2010 - The 140th American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting will be held in Pittsburgh, PA from September 12-16, 2010. The theme is "Merging Our Deeper Currents". Register now to take advantage of the early bird rates.

NEWS - Nile Tilapia captured in the Grand River - Chris Bunt of Biotactic Fish & Wildlife Research recently captured what appears to be a Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), an exotic African fish, in a fish ladder on the Grand River near Hidden Valley. For more information see the News page.

LINK - A link to fishR has been added to the Links page under the Software category. R is a software environment for statistical analyses and graphics that has several characteristics that make it attractive for fisheries science work.

NEWS - AFS Response to B.P. Oil Spill - AFS President Don Jackson has been working closely with the other AFS officers and the AFS executive director to develop a plan for responding to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It has been sent to federal agencies. The plan, in conjunction with the “President’s Hook” in the July issue of Fisheries, gives a framework for discussions with members of your respective subunits regarding the AFS response to the spill. Both of these documents can be viewed on the News page.

LINK - A link to Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network (CABIN) has been added to the Links page under the Government category.

LINK - A link to MicroFish 3.0, a program that calculates maximum-likelihood population estimates, length statistics, and weight statistics from removal-depletion sampling data has been added to the Links page under the Software category.

AFS-EOS - The Ontario Chapter has once again provided support to the Equal Opportunities Section Student Travel Fund. This donation helps to fund minority and female student travel to the 2010 AFS Annual Meeting. The EOS has acknowledged our contribution with a letter.

NEW - A synopsis of the 2008 AGM including a Photo Gallery, has been added to the History page. Follow the link for 2008 under Annual Meetings.

UPDATE - All links on the Student Bursaries / Scholarships / Awards page have been updated.

LINK - A link to Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Fisheries Inventory and Assessment Protocols has been added to the Links page under the Online Publications category.

CONFERENCE - The Ontario Waterpower Association (OWA) is presenting the 10th Power of Water Conference October 18-19, 2010 at the Westin Harbour Castle, Toronto, ON. For further details follow the link under Meetings / Conferences on the Events & Conferences page.

GRADUATE STUDIES - Endangered Unionid Mussels - A Postdoctoral position is available immediately to participate in an ongoing study of endangered freshwater mussels in Southern Ontario rivers. This research will be supervised by Dr. Joe Ackerman of the Physical Ecology Laboratory at the University of Guelph. For further details follow the link under Graduate Studies on the Student Subunit page.

GRADUATE STUDIES - Fisheries Ecology and Management - Tom Nudds at the University of Guelph is seeking at least 3 students qualified to undertake research leading to doctoral degrees in fisheries ecology and management. Successful candidates will join a dynamic group of students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty to study effects of socio-ecological complexity on sustainability of harvested fish stocks in the Great Lakes with emphasis on Lake Erie commercial fisheries. For further details follow the link under Graduate Studies on the Student Subunit page.

NEWS - Spotted Gar Confirmed in East Lake - It has recently been confirmed that “an unusual fish” caught by commercial fisherman David Baverstock in the Fairfields Cove (Cove Beach) area of East Lake (Lake Ontario, Bay of Quinte area) in 2008, was a Spotted Gar (Lepisosteus oculatus). This species is designated as "Threatened" by both the Federal and Provincial Species at Risk lists. For further details see the News page.

GRADUATE STUDIES - Winter Survival and Population Dynamics of Wild Atlantic Salmon - Dr. Rick Cunjak of the Canadian Rivers Institute and the University of New Brunswick is looking for independent, resourceful, and motivated individuals to conduct unique research.  For further details follow the link under Graduate Studies on the Student Subunit page.

NEW - The video Scott and Crossman: The Freshwater Fishes of Canada is now available for viewing on the Ocean Scientists page of the Science and Technology for Canadians website. This is the story of scientist emeritus William Beverly (Bev) Scott, formerly of the Royal Ontario Museum and the Huntsman Marine Science Centre and Edwin (Ed) J. Crossman, formerly of the Royal Ontario Museum, authors of the definitive texts on freshwater fish in Canada.

LINK - A link to the Ontario Commercial Fisheries’ Association has been added to the Links page under the Organizations / Associations category.

NCD-AFS - The Spring 2010 edition of Mainstream is now available from the North Central Division website.

EMPLOYMENT - The Anishinabek/Ontario Fisheries Resource Centre (A/OFRC) is seeking a Senior Fisheries Biologist with demonstrated field experience. For further details see the Job Posting on the Employment Opportunities page.

LINK - A link to the new Ontario Biodiversity Explorer has been added to the Links page under the Government Resources category.

EMPLOYMENT - The Ministry of Natural Resources Sioux Lookout District, has an opening for the position of Fisheries Biologist Intern. The successful candidate will work under the general supervision of the Area Supervisor, to assist with fisheries biological and ecological information collection, compilation, and synthesis, for the purposes of fisheries management planning. For further details see the Job Posting on the Employment Opportunities page.

CONFERENCE - The 4th International Conference on Natural Channel Systems will be held September 27-28, 2010 at the Delta Meadowvale Resort and Conference Centre, Mississauga, ON. The Ontario Chapter is a sponsor. For further details follow the link under Meetings / Conferences on the Events & Conferences page.

2010 AGM - The 2010 winner of the E.J. Crossman Award was Sean Landsman, from Carleton University. His presentation was titled "The Effects of Catch-and-Release Angling for Muskellunge" and the abstract is available in the Program. The 2010 OBFN Award winner was Laura Chomyshyn, also from Carleton University. Her poster was titled "Evaluating the Need to Minimize Water Entry and Surgical Aseptic Techniques During Telemetry Implantation Surgeries".

NEWS - At the 2010 Muskies Canada Board of Directors annual meeting, six individuals, including MNR senior fisheries biologist Steven Kerr, were inducted into the Hall of Fame. With the exception of Steve, all were prominent, long standing members of Muskies Canada. For further details see the News page.

NEWSLETTER - The February 2010 Ontario Chapter Newsletter (Volume X, Issue I) is now available. To download the premier issue of The Lateral Line, visit the Newsletters page.

LINK - A link to the Mid-Canada Chapter has been added to the Links page under the American Fisheries Society category.

EDUCATION - An overview of the recent talk by Dr. Ken Minns entitled Measuring Productive Capacity of Fish Habitats: A Progress Report has been added to the website. For further details follow the link on the Continuing Education page.

NEWS - Chain Pickerel Expanding into Ontario - The native range of this southern cousin of the Northern Pike is expanding into Ontario. On September 16, 2009, a MNR field crew identified a Chain Pickerel (Esox niger) captured during routine gill-netting operations in the Thousand Islands area of the upper St. Lawrence River. The fish was 58 cm long and weighed approximately 1.4 kg. This is the second documented occurrence of Chain Pickerel in this area in the last year and a half. For further details see the News page.

MEMBER PUBLICATION - A paper entitled Effect of water temperature on laboratory swimming performance and natural activity levels of adult largemouth bass was recently published in Canadian Journal of Zoology. The paper was authored by Caleb T. Hasler, Cory D. Suski, Kyle C. Hanson, Steven J. Cooke, David P. Philipp, and Bruce L. Tufts. The abstract can be viewed on our Member Publications page.

AFS 2009 - The winners of the 2009 American Fisheries Society Awards were announced during the 139th American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting in Nashville. Recipients were honoured for their contributions to the American Fisheries Society, to their profession, and to resource conservation. Several Awards were won by Ontario Chapter Members. For details see the October 2009 Newsletter (Volume IX, Issue II).

NEW PUBLICATION - Standard Methods for Sampling North American Freshwater Fishes edited by Scott A. Bonar, Wayne A. Hubert, and David W. Willis is now available. This important reference book provides standard sampling methods recommended by the American Fisheries Society for assessing and monitoring freshwater fish populations in North America. Methods apply to ponds, reservoirs, natural lakes, and streams and rivers containing cold and warmwater fishes. Range-wide and eco-regional averages for indices of abundance, population structure, and condition for individual species are supplied to facilitate comparisons of standard data among populations. Provides information on converting nonstandard to standard data, statistical and database procedures for analyzing and storing standard data, and methods to prevent transfer of invasive species while sampling. It can be purchased online from the AFS Bookstore.

NEWS - The American Fisheries Society and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Joint Names Committee (the governing committee in North America that determines the scientific and common names of fishes), has decided that the first letter in each word in the common names of fishes will now be capitalized. The decision to capitalize common names was made to better facilitate communication, particularly to a lay audience. This decision has been accepted by the AFS Executive and will be reflected in the upcoming seventh edition of Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico, AFS Special Publication to be published in 2011. The Committee recommends that the use of capitalization be adopted now. For further details see the News page.

2009 TRI-CHAPTER MEETING - The Tri-Chapter (Minnesota, Ontario and Wisconsin) American Fisheries Society meeting was held February 2-4, 2009 in Duluth, Minnesota. The conference theme was "Fish Without Borders: Great Lakes Interactions". For those who attended and missed a presentation or two or for those who were unable to attend, 31 of the presentations are available for viewing in PDF format on the MNAFS website. More will be posting as they become available. The Program and submitted Abstracts are also available.

MEMBERSHIP - Don't miss out on important Ontario Chapter correspondence! All members are encouraged to keep their email address up-to-date. Please send email address changes to the webmaster. In addition, remember to update your profile online at https://secure.fisheries.org.

ONLINE STORE - Ontario Chapter merchandise is available for purchase through the Online Store. Currently, AFS-OC baseball caps and lapel pins are available for purchase. We also use this capability for Course, Workshop and Annual General Meeting registrations.

MEMBERSHIP - Are you an AFS member but not an Ontario Chapter member? There are many reasons that an individual AFS member should also join the Ontario Chapter. Check out the Membership page to find out why you should join today!